Gaming machine

ABSTRACT

A gaming machine is provided with a cabinet; a door ( 3 ), provided on a front face opening of the above-mentioned cabinet; a bill insertion slot ( 529 ), provided in the door ( 3 ); and a bill guide plate ( 52 A), which extends outwards from below the bill insertion slot ( 529 ) and is for guiding a bill to the bill insertion slot ( 529 ); and here, the bill guide plate ( 52 A) is equipped with slit openings ( 524 ), a guide part, which guides foreign matter from the exterior, is positioned in the direction substantially below the slit openings ( 524 ), and a drain bottle ( 7 ), for recovery of the foreign matter guided by the above-mentioned guide part, is equipped at the rear face side of the door ( 3 ). Thus even if foreign matter is spilled onto the bill guide plate, the foreign matter can be collected without getting on the various devices inside the cabinet.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is based upon and claims a priority from theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-316730 filed on Oct. 30,2002, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates to a gaming machine.

[0004] 2. Related Art

[0005] Video poker machines, slot machines, and other gaming machinesare installed in casinos, etc. Those are equipped with a bill insertionslot for directly inserting bills instead of coins or medals. An exampleis disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 09-106471.

[0006] With such a gaming machine, when a player runs out of coins,etc., on hand, the player will not have to stand up from his/her seatand go to a coin changer to change bills into coins, etc. The player canalso continue to play a game without having to call game-hall staff.

[0007] In many cases, at a lower position of such a bill insertion slot,a bill guide plate for guiding a bill into the bill insertion slot isprovided. By providing such a bill guide plate, a player can insert abill into the bill insertion slot more readily.

[0008] However, in a game arcade, there are people who play games whiletaking a simple meal or drink and a drink may become spilled onto thebill guide plate by chance. There are also insolent persons who, onbecoming irritated of not obtaining the desired game results, throws adrink in his/her hand onto the gaming machine.

[0009] The bill guide plate has an upper surface that is relativelylarge in area and thus has a structure that may receive a spilled drinkor other foreign matter more readily in comparison to other parts of thegaming machine in the above circumstances. Furthermore, since the billguide plate is disposed adjacent the bill insertion slot, theabove-mentioned foreign matter may enter inside the bill insertion slot.

[0010] Since the entry of such foreign matter into the bill insertionslot leads to malfunction of the gaming machine, such a situation had tobe prevented in advance.

[0011] A gaming machine which has a bill guide plate with a drain holehas been considered for such a drawback. However, since the drain holeof this gaming machine is small, it tended to clog readily. Also, sincethe collected liquid was simply drained into a space opened below acabinet, when a large amount of liquid is spilled, contamination of theinterior of the cabinet occurred due to the inadequate draining ability.

[0012] The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing. Anobject of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine, withwhich even when foreign matter is spilled onto a bill guide plate, theforeign matter can be collected without getting on various devicesinside a cabinet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention provides a gaming machine, with which aliquid or other foreign matter spilled onto a bill guide plate can becollected via slit openings provided in the bill guide plate.

[0014] More specifically, the present invention provides the following.

[0015] (1) A gaming machine enabling the insertion of bills, the gamingmachine comprising: a cabinet; and a door, provided on a front face ofthe cabinet; wherein the door comprises: a bill insertion slot; a billguide plate, extending outwards from a lower end of the bill insertionslot and having an opening; a guide part, positioned in a directionsubstantially right under the opening of the bill guide plate andguiding foreign matter from an exterior; and a container, disposed atthe rear face of the door for collecting the foreign matter.

[0016] With the above-described aspect of the invention of (1), foreignmatter from the exterior, which drops from the opening of the bill guideplate, can be collected in the container via the guide part to reducethe drawbacks of malfunction of various devices inside the cabinet dueto foreign matter from the exterior. This effect is especially prominentin the case where the foreign matter is liquid.

[0017] With those in the related art, when liquid or other foreignmatter was spilled onto the bill guide plate, the foreign matter flowedinto the bill insertion slot, causing malfunction of the various devicesin the interior.

[0018] Thus by providing the opening in the bill guide plate of thegaming machine and equipping the gaming machine with a container forrecovery of the foreign matter that flows from the opening as in thepresent invention, the foreign matter can be prevented from flowinginside the bill insertion slot and accumulating inside the cabinet.

[0019] (2) The gaming machine according to (1) wherein an upper openingof the container is positioned in a substantially downward directionbelow the guide part and has a larger cross-sectional area than a crosssection of the lower end part of the guide part.

[0020] With the above-described aspect of the invention of (2), theupper face opening of the container is positioned in a substantiallydownward direction below the guide part and has a larger cross-sectionalarea than the cross section of the lower end part of the guide part. Theforeign matter from the exterior that is guided from the guide part canthus be prevented from leaking out of the container and can be collectedreadily in the container.

[0021] (3) The gaming machine according to (1) or (2) wherein thecontainer is detachably mounted to the rear face of the door.

[0022] With the above-described aspect of the invention of (3), thecontainer is not formed integral to the rear face of the door but ismounted in a detachable manner. Thus even when foreign matter from theexterior accumulates in the container, detachment can be performedrelatively readily. The foreign matter from the exterior can thus bediscarded from the container.

[0023] Also, since the container is mounted to the rear face of thedoor, the container can be detached simply by opening the door andwithout being affected by the existence of other devices.

[0024] (4) The gaming machine according to any one from (1) to (3)wherein the container is rectangular in horizontal cross-section, andone of long sides of the rectangular faces to the rear face of the doorwhen container is mounted to the door.

[0025] With the above-described aspect of the invention of (4), theshape of the container can be made extremely thin. This is thusexcellent in terms of saving space within the cabinet and yet arelatively large amount of foreign matter can be collected in thecontainment part.

[0026] (5) The gaming machine according to any one from (1) to (4)wherein the container is formed of a substantially transparent orsemi-transparent material.

[0027] With the above-described aspect of the invention of (5), sincethe collected amount of foreign matter from the exterior that iscollected in the container can be directly viewed readily from theexterior of the container, the container will not have to be detachedeach time the timing for discarding the foreign matter from the exterioris to be checked.

[0028] (6) The gaming machine according to any one from (1) to (5)wherein a storage capacity of the container is one liter or less.

[0029] With the above-described aspect of the invention of (6), sincethe storage capacity of the container is approximately one liter orless, a spilled drink, etc., can be contained adequately and since thereis no need to make available a large space for installing the container,the container can be installed suitably, for example, at the rear sideof the door.

[0030] Other features and advantageous of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031]FIG. 1 is a front view of a slot machine of the present invention.

[0032]FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of an operating part of thepresent invention.

[0033]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which a door of the presentinvention is opened.

[0034]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bill guide plate of the presentinvention.

[0035]FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a state in which thebill guide plate and a mounted body of the present invention areassembled together.

[0036]FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective diagram of a bill loading partof the present invention.

[0037]FIG. 7 is a partial view of the door as seen from the rear faceside.

[0038]FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective diagram of a frame body of thepresent invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0039] An embodiment of the present invention shall now be describedwith reference to the drawings. Though an application of the presentinvention to a slot machine shall be described as the embodiment, thepresent invention is not limited thereto and may be applied to variousother gaming machines, such as video game machines, coin game machines,card game machines, etc.

[0040] The construction of a slot machine shall now be described.

[0041]FIG. 1 is a front view of a slot machine 1. At the front openingpart of a cabinet 2 of slot machine 1, a door 3 is provided in a mannerenabling opening and closing. Also, a top frame 4 is mounted on an upperpart of cabinet 2. A decorative panel plate 41 is provided on the frontface of top frame 4.

[0042] A display device 21, which displays gaming information, isinstalled inside the cabinet 2. In order to enable viewing of thedisplay on the display device 21, a window is formed on an upper part ofthe cabinet 3. And in order to enable viewing of the display on thedisplay device 21 and to protect display device 21, a transparent plateis mounted on the above-mentioned window. At both sides of theabove-mentioned window are formed sound holes 902 (902L and 902R) thatenable effect sounds or music generated according to gaming states to beheard readily.

[0043] At a central part of the front face of the door 3, an operatingpart 5 is disposed in a protruding manner. At an inclined face at theright side of operating part 5, various operation buttons are alignedand a coin slot 51, into which coins are loaded, is equipped. At theright side of the operating part 5 is equipped with a bill loading part52 for guiding a bill to a bill validator housed inside the cabinet 2.

[0044] At a lower part of the operating part 5 is provided a frame 6,which is connected to the door 3 in a manner enabling opening andclosing. A decorative panel plate 61 is enclosed in the frame 6. At alower part of the frame 6 at a bottom part of the door 3 is formed acoin tray 30, which receives coins.

[0045]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the operating part 5. Theabove-mentioned bill loading part 52 comprises a bill guide plate 51Aand a mounting member 52B. The bill guide plate 52A and the mountingmember 52B are integrated together and mounted to the operating part 5.The mounting member 52B forms a part of the door 3.

[0046]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the door 3 is opened.As shown in FIG. 3, the bill validator 22 and a bill stacker 23 areinstalled inside the cabinet 2. The bill validator 22 determines thetruth/falseness or quality of a bill loaded from the bill loading part52. The bill stacker 23 houses bills validated by the bill validator 22.A bill guided by the bill loading part 52 is taken in by the billvalidator 22 via a bill insertion slot 529.

[0047] Also, at the rear face side of the door 3, a drain bottle 7,which is a container, is mounted directly below the mounting member 52B.

[0048]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bill guide plate 52A. As shownin FIG. 4, a plurality of substantially rectilinear slit openings 521are formed in parallel as a plurality of openings in the bill guideplate 52A. Slit openings 521 are disposed in parallel with each other.Slit openings 521 run along the direction from the bill insertion slot529 to the outer side of the cabinet 2. The entirety of the opening ofthe slit opening 521 does not comprise a hole that passes through billguide plate 52A. That is, a slit opening 521 is an open groove having abottom formed by an opening bottom part 600. By providing the bottom ata part of each slit opening, the inner parts of the slit openings andthe dropped foreign matter can be prevented from being seen readily by aplayer while securing an area for taking in foreign matter. Also,partition members 523 are formed on bill guide plate 52A. The partitionmembers 523 partition each slit opening 521 into a plurality of smallslit openings 524. The position of the upper surface of a partitionmember 523 is slightly lower than a bill guide surface 522. And as shownin FIG. 4, the length of each small slit opening 524 partitioned bypartition members 523 is formed to be smaller than the diameter of acoin 10 used in the gaming machine.

[0049]FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a state in which thebill guide plate 52A and the mounting member 52B are assembled together.As shown in FIG. 5, the bill guide plate 52A is detachably mounted to aloading slot 520, which serves as a bill insertion space. Also, in orderthat a bill is taken in readily, the bill guide plate 52A extendsoutwards from the lower end of the bill insertion slot 529 that ispositioned at a lower side of the loading slot 520.

[0050] At the mounting member 52B, the peripheral walls that formloading slot 520 are connected to the cabinet2. The peripheral wallsextends downwards and form a first opening 525 that opposes loading slot520. The peripheral walls that form first opening 525 continue furtherdownward and form a second opening 526 that is open in the downwarddirection. The loading slot 520, first opening part 525, and secondopening part 526 form a space of substantially pyramidal shape with theapex at the lower side. The bill guide plate 52A is formed so as tocover the first opening part 525 from above. The first opening part 525and second opening part 526 are for guiding liquid and other foreignmatter that enter via the slit opening 521 from the exterior.

[0051]FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective diagram of the bill loading part52. As shown in FIG. 6, a protrusion 528A is formed on the rear wall ofthe bill guide plate 52A. A cylindrical protrusion 528B is formed on thefront lower wall of the bill guide plate 52A. An internal thread isformed in the cylindrical protrusion 528B. Meanwhile, a groove 528C isformed in the rear inner wall of the first opening part 525 of mountingmember 52B. The bill guide plate 52A is assembled onto the mountingmember 52B by inserting the protrusion 528A of the bill guide plate 52Ainto the groove 528C and tilting the bill guide plate 52A towards themounting member 52B. The bill guide plate 52A can also be separated fromthe mounting member 52B by movement in the opposite direction.

[0052] The bill guide plate 52A and mounting member 52B are madeintegral by fixing the cylindrical protrusion 528B of the bill guideplate 52A to the mounting member 52B utilizing a fixing screw BF1. Theintegrated bill guide plate 52A and mounting member 52B are theninserted in a notched part of a control panel 50 of the operating part5. The integrated bill guide plate 52A and mounting member 52B are thenfixed by a fixing screw BF2 onto a mounting bracket 501, provided on thecontrol panel 50, thus completing the assembly.

[0053] More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, an edge of the controlpanel 50 is inserted into a groove 527 formed in a front part of themounting member 52B and the mounting member 52B is tilted towardscontrol panel 50. And then a collar of the mounting member 52B comes incontact with the upper face of control panel 50. The mounting member 52Bis then fixed to the control panel 50 by the fixing screw BF2 to attainthe fixed state.

[0054]FIG. 7 is a partial view of door 3 as seen from the rear faceside. As shown in FIG. 7, a drain bottle 7 is installed at the rear faceside of door 3. An upper face opening 70 of the drain bottle 7 ispositioned below a second opening 526 of mounting member 52B. That is,the drain bottle 7 is installed so that the center of gravity of theupper face opening 70 of the drain bottle is substantially matched withthe center of gravity of the second opening 526. Also, the upper faceopening 70 of the drain bottle 7 is made larger in cross-sectional areathan the cross section of the second opening 526 at the lower end part.

[0055]FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective diagram of a frame body 6. Asshown in FIG. 8, a frame plate 632 is formed to a generally “U”-likeshape and houses a decorative panel plate 61. Also, a cover 62 ismounted to the frame plate 632. At the left flank of the frame plate 632is provided a cylinder lock 6A for locking or unlocking the frame body 6to or from the door 3. At the right flank of the frame plate 632 isformed a through hole 633. A pivot 64 is inserted into the through hole633 and the frame 6 is rotatably joined with the door 3. The decorativepanel plate 61, cover 62, and frame plate 632 thus open and closeintegrally.

[0056] At the back face of cover 62 are mounted two metal latches 71.Meanwhile, cylindrical pins 7A are protruded from the left and rightside faces of the drain bottle 7. The pins 7A engage with the U-shapedgrooves of the metal latches 71 and the drain bottle 7 is thereby put inthe state in which it is installed on the back face of the cover 62.Also, the engagement of the metal latches 71 and pins 7A can bedisengaged by lifting up the drain bottle 7, and the drain bottle 7 canthen be moved to another location. In the state in which the drainbottle 7 is installed on the frame body 6, the bottom face of the drainbottle 7 is positioned slightly above the bottom face of the frame body6.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 8, the drain bottle 7 has a thin, laterally longshape. The drain bottle 7 is rectangular in horizontal cross-section inthe part positioned below the upper face opening 70. The drain bottle 7is mounted so as to face its one of long sides of the rectangular to therear face of the cover 62.

[0058] The drain bottle 7 is formed of a substance of substantiallytransparent or semi-transparent material (for example, glass or asynthetic resin). The storage capacity of the drain bottle 7 isapproximately one liter or less. Due to being approximately one liter orless in the storage capacity, the drain bottle 7 can adequately containa drink, etc., that is spilled onto the bill guide plate 52A. Also thedrain bottle 7 can be installed suitably, for example, at the rear sideof the door 3 since there is no need to make available a large space forinstallation.

[0059] The actions shall now be described. As described with FIG. 4, thebill guide plate 52A has a plurality of substantially rectilinear slitopenings 521 formed in columns. Thus even when a drink or other foreignmatter spills onto the bill guide plate, it can be collected through theslit openings 521. The foreign matter will not get on the variousdevices inside the cabinet and breakage of the various devices can beprevented.

[0060] Also as shown in FIG. 5, the bill guide plate 52A has the form ofa bag with an open bottom and the inner peripheral walls form inclinedfaces with which a solution or other foreign matter that is thrown incan fall readily by gravity to the bottom face. Likewise, each of thefirst opening 525 of the mounting member 52B and the second opening 526,which continues from the first opening 525, has the form of a bag withan open bottom and the inner peripheral walls form inclined faces withwhich a solution or other foreign matter that is thrown in can fallreadily by gravity to the bottom face.

[0061] That is, the first opening 525 and second opening 526, which arepositioned in the direction substantially below the slit openings 521,form a guide part that guides a solution or other foreign matter fromthe exterior. And by the drain bottle 7 equipped below the secondopening 526 of the mounting member 52B as shown in FIG. 7, the foreignmatter that is guided by the above-mentioned guide part can be collectedin the drain bottle 7.

[0062] Foreign matter from the exterior, which enters from the slitopenings 521 of the bill guide plate 52A can thus be collected in thedrain bottle 7 via the above-described guide part. Drawbacks ofmalfunction of the various devices inside the cabinet 2 due to theforeign matter from the exterior can thus be reduced, and this effect isespecially prominent in the case where the foreign matter is liquid.

[0063] Next, the actions of the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 7 shallbe described. By the upper face opening 70 of the drain bottle 7 beinggreater in cross-sectional area than the cross section of the lower endpart of the second opening 526, the foreign matter from the exteriorthat is guided from the mounting member 52B in FIG. 5 can be preventedfrom leaking out of the drain bottle 7 and can be collected readily inthe drain bottle 7.

[0064] Also, it was described with FIG. 8 that the metal latches 71 ofthe cover 62 and pins 7A of the drain bottle 7 can be engaged anddisengaged. That is, the drain bottle 7 is not formed integrally on therear face of the door 3 but is mounted in a detachable manner. Thus evenwhen foreign matter from the exterior accumulate in the drain bottle 7,the drain bottle 7 can be detached and the foreign matter can thus bediscarded from drain bottle 7. Also, since the drain bottle 7 is mountedto the rear face of the door 3, the drain bottle 7 can be detachedsimply after opening the door 3 without being affected by the existenceof other devices.

[0065] Also as shown in FIG. 8, the drain bottle 7 has a laterally longshape with which the horizontal cross section of the containment partpositioned below the upper face opening 70 has a shape that is long inthe lateral direction. The drain bottle 7 of the above-mentioned lateraldirection is mounted so as to be set along the rear face of the cover62.

[0066] As described with FIG. 3, a bill validator 22 and a bill stacker23 are disposed inside the cabinet 2. A coin guide 24 is also disposedinside the cabinet 2. Behind the coin guide 24 are mounted a printedcircuit board for controlling the slot machine 1 and a shelf 25.Furthermore, an unillustrated hopper is disposed below the coin guide24. Since the interior of the cabinet 2 is thus put in a crowded mountedstate, a space by which the drain bottle 7 can protrude towards theinterior of cabinet 2 does not exist.

[0067] Also as shown in FIG. 7, a coin allocating device, whichallocates a coin 10 loaded in from the coin slot 51 into the coin guide24 or coin tray 30 is disposed adjacent mounting member 52B at the backface of door 3.

[0068] Thus in order to make the containment capacity of the drainbottle 7 large within such a limited space, drain bottle 7 is made thinand laterally long in shape. The drain bottle 7 is thus excellent interms of saving space within the cabinet 2 and yet a relatively largeamount of foreign matter can be collected in the containment part of thedrain bottle 7 under the above-mentioned restrictions.

[0069] Also, as shown in FIG. 8, the drain bottle 7 is formed of asubstance of substantially transparent or semi-transparent material (forexample, glass or a synthetic resin). When the door 3 or frame body 6 isopened, the drain bottle 7 moves along with the door 3 or frame body 6,thus enabling the drain bottle 7 to be viewed. By forming the drainbottle 7 of a substance of substantially transparent or semi-transparentmaterial, the foreign matter collected in the drain bottle 7 can beviewed readily. The collected amount can thus be recognized withouthaving to detach the drain bottle 7 each time to check the timing fordiscarding the foreign matter from the exterior.

[0070] With the present invention, a gaming machine, equipped with abill guide plate for guiding a bill into a bill insertion slot, isequipped with a guide part, guiding foreign matter from the exterior, inthe direction substantially below a opening that is equipped by the billguide plate, and is equipped with a container, for collecting theforeign matter guided by the above-mentioned guide part, at the rearface side of the above-mentioned door. A foreign matter from theexterior, which drops from the opening of the bill guide plate, can thusbe collected in the container via the guide part to reduce the drawbacksof malfunction of the various devices inside the cabinet due to foreignmatter from the exterior. This effect is especially prominent in thecase where the foreign matter is liquid.

[0071] Also with the present invention, an upper face opening of theabove-mentioned container is positioned in a substantially downwarddirection below the above-mentioned guide part and has a largercross-sectional area than the cross section of the lower end part of theguide part. The foreign matter from the exterior that is guided from theguide part can thus be prevented from leaking out of the container andcan be collected readily in the container.

[0072] Furthermore with the present invention, the above-mentionedcontainer is mounted to the rear face side of the above-mentioned doorand is mounted in a manner enabling detachment from the rear face of theabove-mentioned door. The container is thus not formed integral to therear face of the door but is mounted in a detachable manner. Thus whenforeign matter from the exterior accumulate in the container, thecontainer can be detached relatively readily and the foreign matter fromthe exterior can be discarded from the container.

[0073] Also, with the present invention, the above-mentioned containerhas a laterally long shape with which a containment part positionedbelow the upper opening has a horizontal cross section of a shape thatis long in the lateral direction. And the container is mounted so thatthe above-mentioned lateral direction is set along the rear face of theabove-mentioned door. The shape of the container can thus be madeextremely thin. This is thus excellent in terms of saving space withinthe cabinet and yet a relatively large amount of foreign matter can becollected in the containment part.

[0074] Furthermore with the present invention, by the above-mentionedcontainer being made of a substantially transparent or semitransparentmaterial, the amount of foreign matter collected in the container can beviewed readily. The timing for discarding the foreign matter from thecontainer can thus be recognized without having to detach and check thecontainer each time.

What is claimed is:
 1. A gaming machine enabling the insertion of bills,the gaming machine comprising: a cabinet; and a door, provided on afront face of the cabinet; wherein the door comprises: a bill insertionslot; a bill guide plate, extending outwards from a lower end of thebill insertion slot and having an opening; a guide part, positioned in adirection substantially right under the opening of the bill guide plateand guiding foreign matter from an exterior; and a container, disposedat the rear face of the door for collecting the foreign matter.
 2. Thegaming machine according to claim 1, wherein an upper opening of thecontainer is positioned in a substantially downward direction below theguide part and has a larger cross-sectional area than a cross section ofthe lower end part of the guide part.
 3. The gaming machine according toclaim 1, wherein the container is detachably mounted to the rear face ofthe door.
 4. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein thecontainer is rectangular in horizontal cross-section, and one of longsides of the rectangular faces to the rear face of the door whencontainer is mounted to the door.
 5. The gaming machine according toclaim 1, wherein the container is formed of a substantially transparentor semi-transparent material.
 6. The gaming machine according to claim1, wherein a storage capacity of the container is one liter or less.